09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
From Pat Kenny to Ryan Tubridy: Five shock exits that rocked Irish radio
Pat Kenny, RTÉ Radio 1 to Newstalk, 2013:
Marty Whelan, RTÉ 2FM to Century, 1989
Still remembered as a genuinely shocking moment, possibly because Century was the first nationwide rival to RTÉ. Whelan's move ended in tears, as his new home went kaput just two years later.
He was blackballed by the national broadcaster but slowly redeemed himself on television and radio, and is now a beloved fixture on Lyric FM.
Ray D'Arcy, Today FM to RTÉ Radio 1, 2015
The Kildare man talked about coming home when he made the surprise decision to quit his massively popular mid-morning Today FM show. His new slot, mid-afternoon on RTE Radio 1, hasn't exactly been a disaster – but has been pretty underwhelming.
Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1 to Q102 (eventually), 2023-24
Tubridy slunk out of Montrose under a cloud after the infamous payments scandal hit RTÉ, with him at the centre. Half a year, later he was back, with a syndicated show from Virgin Radio UK, simulcast to Dublin-based Q102. Early audience figures were OK, though they've dropped this year.
Ian Dempsey, 2FM to Today FM, 1998
Another shocker, as RTÉ stalwart Dempsey – he of the eponymous radio show and, a few years earlier, popular television shows Dempsey's Den and The Beatbox – moved to a young whelp of a station that had only launched (under a different name, Radio Ireland, at that) the previous year.
Did it work out for him? Oh, yes. And he's still there, doing very nice numbers in the JNLRs.
